Trump’s “karmuppance” may be at hand. Is the cure worse than his disease?
Karmuppance- a punishment or fate that someone deserves.
- My Karmic Dictionary
Let’s begin by stating plainly that the assassination attempts on Donald Trump are criminal and unforgivable. Any schadenfreudian gratification those who oppose the former president may feel concerning the irony of a presidential candidate who has consistently incited violence with his rhetoric, being a strong opponent of any form of gun control, is reprehensible. That he has also glorified violence at his rallies and has refused to speak out against violence done to others in his name does not provide permission to wish violence against him. It is fair, however, to hope that he loses the coming election while avoiding wishing him harm.
Begin Schadenfreude
That said, it is difficult not to attribute the violence the presidential campaign has generated so far. The assassination attempts are frightening but so is the violence that Republican candidates have wished on Springfield Ohio, the violence that continues to visit our schools and town centers, and the hate and anger Donald Trump has managed to incite among Americans against their fellow citizens and immigrants. The violence is not random. Its aim is not by chance. The sites are not arbitrary. Donald Trump has placed himself at its center. It is part of the mounting karmic debt the ex-president has amassed throughout his self-indulgent and profligate lifetime.
Karma is a thing if only as a way of describing what we are feeling or observing in our lives. Some may appear to repress or avoid it for a while but when it finally breaks through karma is, well, a bitch. Karma is a concept taken from Hinduism and Buddhism and is a simple belief of the effects of the accumulated fate one derives from how one has conducted his or her life. Donald Trump has lived a life bathed in the denial of the needs or concerns of others in deference to his own sybaritic needs. When karma is associated with a known narcissist like Trump, the “bad things” that occur can seem long-deserved. For those who believe in the spiritual process of karma, it is not a punishment but part of the cosmic reckoning of cause and effect:
- Centre of Excellence
A lifetime accumulation of karmic debt can lead to a whiplash of bad tidings. According to Melanie Tonie Evans, a narcissistic abuse recovery expert, the description of a narcissist in need of recovery fits the former president:
The inverted power of narcissism — them at the top of the power structure and everyone and else and God / Source / Creation at the bottom, means that they write their own rules. Their lack of conscience wiring unfortunately means that everyone and everything exists to serve their False Self — the ego. They don’t see others as flesh and blood autonomous human beings with Souls and feelings. People are mere tools to violate or exploit for the narcissist’s own purposes.
The narcissist knows other people may not approve of this — hence why they need to cloak their behaviour in charm, manipulation and lies. But please know they truly don’t believe there is anything wrong with the way they conduct themselves. There is zero comprehension of them “doing wrong”. Hence why a genuine apology from a narcissist is near impossible to obtain — or if granted is only to shut you up or hoover and hook you back in again.
- Melanie Tonie Evans , “The Narcissist’s Karma and Your Dharma”
Evans notes that people like Trump seem to get away with their behavior, especially when they are otherwise blessed with status or wealth. For Evans, there is a spiritual component that is being tweaked and prodded by narcissistic behavior. If you believe in such things, the karma can be both internal and out in the open. Internally, a profligate life is its own punishment- the person collects enemies rather than friends- their karma self-evident and devolving:
This is the narcissist’s terrible karma — never durably feeling whole, fulfilled, peaceful or filled with Love, no matter what they do. Plus, there is the horrible gnawing ever-pressing urgency of having to get “more” to try to have enough narcissistic supply to offset the feeling of falling into and being gobbled up by their own internal black hole of despair, self-hatred and defectiveness.
Here is how narcissists end up in life … old and alone.
- Melanie Tonie Evans , “The Narcissist’s Karma and Your Dharma”
Sounds fair.
Well, if this is a bit too esoteric, too out there for your taste, I may have at one time been in your camp. But then it is hard to dismiss the former president’s visceral unraveling before our very eyes. Ever since Joe Biden was replaced by a Jamaican-Indian woman at the top of the Democratic ticket bad shit is happening. His life has been threatened by assassination twice (well, technically once since Kamala Harris took over), his campaign for president has been visited by notable defections of former aides and Republican stalwarts, his “kook factor” has been exponentially raised by ludicrous debate claims about Haitian immigrants and their eating habits, he is weighed down with a VP who dabbles in doubling down on Trump’s false pussy memes, the endorsement of Harris by Taylor Swift, and Laura Loomer replacing Melania as arm candy on the stump. Meanwhile, his national polls are tanking in the face of a joyful pair of Democratic hopefuls. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have shrunk the Trumpian image with a death-by-a-thousand-cuts campaign that has turned the tables on the aging MAGA pretension of invincibility by pointing out their foolishness.
What makes Trump’s karma problem even more difficult is its cure. Cleansing a karmic debt is also a thing, again if you are so inclined. Imagine hoops to jump through that are the size of criminal ankle bracelets. Here is a typical example of a karmic cleanse:
A karmic cleanse involves spiritual practices aimed at clearing away negative karmic debts. This can be achieved through meditation, fasting, prayer, or rituals designed to reset your spiritual path. The cleanse is about intentionality in correcting past actions and realigning yourself with positive, ethical behaviours.
Oh, my! I think the fasting might be a deal killer.
Originally published at https://www.dailykos.com on September 16, 2024.
